Intangible Heritage Section/UNESCO www.unesco.

org/culture/ich/ July 2008

Safeguarding of the Wayang Puppet Theatre of Indonesia

1. Background A rich mixture of local Indonesian myths, Persian tales, and Indian epic stories constitutes the core of Wayang puppetry in Indonesia. Accompanied by a gong orchestra (gamelan), exquisitely crafted shadow puppets are operated by master puppeteers (dalang). The continuation of the cultural expression depends on artists trained in at least the three fields of storytelling, playing music, and puppet-making. However, the changing economic structure of Indonesia has led to a decreased interest in and demand for wayang performances, which jeopardizes artists livelihood and the transmission of their art. Furthermore, wayang is pressed to serve popular tastes that sometimes do not appreciate its traditional refined way of weaving humour into serious social and political commentaries. In this milieu, in November 2003, UNESCO proclaimed the Wayang Puppet Theatre a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and the ensuing Action Plan aimed to encourage its revitalization as a living practice. II. Objectives and activities The projects safeguarding measures engaged the national network of sanggars (traditional wayang training centres) and included: The implementation of an inter-sectoral network of wayang institutions and practitioners and its adoption of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Training on five varieties of wayang in 15 sanggars; reinforcement of two private wayang training centres 100 wayang puppets for Wayang Kulit Banjar and 50 for Wayang Kulit Palembang were produced in a workshop for two masters Improvements to the training system within sanggars: curricula development, use of an audio-visual kit, and publication of General and Technical Guidelines for Puppetry Training in Wayang Sanggars Research and documentation of wayang varieties

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the beginning of the project helped develop an inter-sectoral network among SENA WANGI (Indonesian Wayang Secretariat), PEPADI (Indonesian Puppeteers/Pedalangan Union) Provincial Secretariats; ISI (Indonesian Arts Institute); STSI (Indonesian Arts University); and private Wayang training centres (PDMN Surakarta and Habirando Yogyakarta). SENA WANGI visited several provinces and designated one sanggar in each province as the ICH focal point with responsibilities to teach and also record different local wayang techniques. The implementing team set up two Intangible Heritage Sub-committees to establish two new sanggars, in Palembang and Banjarmasin.

Intangible Heritage Section/UNESCO www.unesco.org/culture/ich/ July 2008

Each centre purchased a set of gamelan instruments including a Blencong, a lamp for illuminating the screen and making shadows. The project organized a workshop for two wayang puppet craftsmen from Banjar in order to enhance their capacities in puppet-making: processing of buffalo hides, making blueprints, cutting, perforating, and sungging, or painting the puppets and making the rods for moving the limbs. They produced 100 puppets for Wayang Kulit Banjar and 50 puppets for Wayang Kulit Palembang. At first, the project conducted trainings in ten sanggars: Palembang, Banjarmasin, Jakarta, Sukabumi, Karawang, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Malang and Denpasar; later five more sanggars joined as the PEPADI District Commissariats became motivated to extend the project. The importance of the MOU agreement of institutional cooperation became evident as the implementing team collaborated with STSI Surakarta, STSI Bandung,ISI Denpasar and ISI Yogyakarta to reinforce two private wayang training centres, PDMN Surakarta and Habirando Yogyakarta. SENA WANGI emphasized the need for a more effective training system and organized two seminars with PEPADI District Commissariats to develop curricula that applied an audio-visual kit and used the published General and Technical Guidelines for Puppetry Training in Wayang Sanggars , covering wayang varieties such as Kulit Purwa Surakarta, Kulit Purwa Yogyakarta, Kulit Parwa Bali, Kulit Malangan, Golek Sunda, Kulit Banjar, and Kulit Palembang. In drafting these guidelines, professional playwrights and scholars cooperated with wayang practitioners, who brought in their experience of the social and cultural context that enlivened and still gives contemporary meaning to puppetry. The project produced 12 volumes of written training manuals in the form of books for the wayang teachers and 69 VCD discs on wayang performance and techniques of performance. The teams field research and compiled data were analyzed and managed at the Indonesian Wayang Database Centre (PDWI). Throughout the project, SENA WANGI organized three review meetings, which brought together project participants to discuss their joint safeguarding efforts. The meetings offered a useful exercise for evaluating the project as a process of cooperation, learning, and creativity and not simply as the producer of quantitative outputs. From 29 November to 3 December 2006, SENA WANGI organized the First ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Puppetry Festival and a member of SENA WANGI shared the Indonesian case at the Experts Meeting on the Impacts of the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, on 20 and 21 April 2006. III. Lessons learned and on-going work The projects main community-level contribution was the revitalization of the role of the sanggars as the focal points in an effective network for the transmission

Intangible Heritage Section/UNESCO www.unesco.org/culture/ich/ July 2008

of five local varieties of wayang. A major element of sustainability was the cooperation with local authorities, as District Commissariats agreed to extend the project efforts and organize wayang puppetry training in their respective towns and cities. The seminars fostered the establishment of more organizations and institutions for wayang puppetry training. Development of a long-term human resources strategy and a strong commitment are necessary to enhance the sustainability of the safeguarding efforts. On a broader national level, there is still a strong need for cooperation among all the actors in the field of wayang. SENA WANGI and PEPADI have taken part as active coordinators and facilitators to various sanggars and wayang institutions in supporting the safeguarding of wayang puppet theatre, but such efforts need to be sustained and expanded. Revitalization of the wayang performance under traditional circumstances, e.g., within ritual celebrations and families, needs to be enhanced. A positive response came from the local government of Cirebon, West Java that requested wayang performances in traditional annual events. The support from local governments is important and should be developed to secure funding for the revitalization of wayang performance.